As some of you may recall, FLD was tapped several years ago to make peach brandy at George Washington’s reconstructed distillery. Washington, who was one of, if not the largest distiller of his time, distilled rye whiskey primarily. He owned a wood-fired, five copper pot distillery which was state of the art at…(Read More)

Gin is a fantastically diverse spirit, in terms of flavor and cocktail use. The distiller’s choice of botanicals, methods, and styles has left the consumer with many choices to make their Martini or build their G&T. Gins can range from full bodied to light, and from savory to sweet. As a…(Read More)

This Winter, I had the opportunity to travel to Brazil with our trade organization, DISCUS, and a handful of other U.S. distillers. The trip was made possible through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program (M.A.P.) and was designed to promote American spirits to a relatively untapped market. It…(Read More)

At Finger Lakes Distilling, we find that many of our whiskey tasters, whose introduction to whiskey has been Jack Daniels or Jamesons, usually have a limited knowledge of rye whiskey. When we mention that our McKenzie Rye recently won the best spirit in New York State at the 2013 Wine and Food Classic, or that…(Read More)

Those of you that have been brave enough to venture out in the snow and cold to visit us the last few weeks, have been rewarded with the opportunity to sample our spirits in a small, hot toddy to warm you up. Many of you have asked for the recipes for these delicious hot cocktails…(Read More)

New York Honey Sweet Potatoes We released our newest whiskey, Catskill Provisions New York Honey (our McKenzie Rye infused with Catskill wild flower honey) on November 9, 2013 and quickly went to work to design a dish using this spirit for Thanksgiving. 3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (hot) 1/3 cup New York Honey…(Read More)

Over the next couple of days, we’ll be posting a few ideas for incorporating our spirits into your Thanksgiving meal later this week. We start with the centerpiece of the feast… Recipe based on a 15 pound Turkey BRINE (the day before) 2 cups apple cider 1 ½ cups kosher or sea salt 1 cup…(Read More)

Over the past 3 or 4 years, visiting Finger Lakes Distilling on the Friday after Thanksgiving has really become a tradition for those that are back in the area for the holiday weekend. We’ve found that there are a lot of you that are looking to get out and about (and maybe start some…(Read More)

It’s Vodka Week at Finger Lakes Distilling. Over 6,000 gallons of local Catawba juice was recently delivered to the distillery where Master Distiller Thomas Earl McKenzie and Assistant Distiller Gerard McCall quickly placed it in our fermentation tanks, after which our own yeast was added. It quickly “fermented out” and was ready for…(Read More)

We’ve got a lot going on over the next couple of months. Please come out to see us at one (or more) of the following events: Saturday, November 2 TastingLongs Wine & LiquorsBrooklyn, NY4-7 pm Friday, November 8 TastingExit 9 LiquorsHalfmoon, NY3-7 pm …(Read More)

If you spend time on Seneca Lake and haven’t taken an opportunity to sail on the Schooner True Love, you are missing out. This beautiful boat was built in 1926 and is used for chartered trips from May through October. Our staff celebrated our 4 year anniversary this past Tuesday on board the schooner…(Read More)